Gamasutra - Should Games Have Stories?

May 14th, 2013, 00:11

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
A good system with a weak (or no) story ultimately fails. A good example of that is Darklands.

Loved Darklands. Where else can you go to a devil worshiping ceremony incognito, fly on a broomstick and save a baby's immortal soul by calling on a saint to baptize it, before it get's sacrificed on the altar of Beelzebub? Most original RPG ever!

Originally Posted by BillSeurer
A good system with a weak (or no) story ultimately fails. A good example of that is Darklands.

What games does not ultimately fail? It cant be a criterion.

Beside, the article's sensational title does not reflect the content.

The article is about the way of delivering a story, either through a scripted narrative or by letting the player assemble her own narrative.

This question is much more dangerous as pushing back the lack of story in a game is much easier than pondering on the possibilities computer provide to deliver a story properly. Whether you support a scripted approach or a free handed approach, you want a story in. So the question whether games should have stories is consensual. The answer is definitively yes.

Millions of people around the world when they go to watch a movie do not go for the movie but for this or that actor. The same happens in gaming: millions of players buy games for features secondary to gaming. Story is one.